The Shanghai Factor

A Novel

Charles McCarry is widely considered one of the greatest espionage writers of the all-time, and in THE SHANGHAI FACTOR he returns to his roots with an absorbing tale of global skullduggery that leaves the reader guessing at every turn.

A young, unnamed spy is living in Shanghai in order to observe and absorb the culture and language so as to aid a shadowy U.S. agency known only as 'HQ'. However when he meets a sultry and mysterious woman named Mei, they begin a torrid affair that threatens to expose him to HQ's enemies.

Soon the head of HQ, Luther Burbank, gives the spy a task that will force him to risk everything: go undercover as the American ambassador for a massive Chinese multinational conglomerate, and learn the secrets of their powerful CEO Chen Qi, whom HQ believes to be a front man for the nearly uncrackable Chinese Intelligence, known as the Guoanbu.

Soon the spy finds that HQ isn't the only one tracking his every move, and the deadly Guoanbu may be aware of his true identity. Danger lies around every corner, as the enigmatic Mei flits in and ouf of his life, yet every time he thinks he's closer to the truth, he finds himself drawn further into a deadly cat-and-mouse game between HQ and the Guoanbu that might not only end his life, but could upend the East/West balance of power.

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I thought David Wise's book, The Tiger Trap (although somewhat misleading or misinformational in certain respects) was much more interesting from the opposite angle: how the Chinese have so thoroughly penetrated America's FBI!

The author is a former CIA operative and so I assume that he is writing from his experiences. And I was amazed that in this novel the Operative essentially does NOTHING...except to spend his time in bed with women. I read this book because TIME magazine had highlighted it as exceptional. I should have discarded it after the first 5 chapters because nothing happens. Certainly not a thriller!

"Living in Shanghai to observe and absorb the culture and language to aid a shadowy U.S. agency known only as HQ, an unnamed spy is given a task that forces him to risk everything as he goes undercover in a massive Chinese multinational conglomerate to expose the secrets of their powerful CEO." July 2013 Thrillers and Suspense newsletter http://www.nextreads.com/Display2.aspx?SID=5acc8fc1-4e91-4ebe-906d-f8fc5e82a8e0&N=652650